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Thursday, 26 January 2012

I was recently asked to do an interview feature for the PRS M Magazine looking at the Nu Disco scene and its roots, where it was headed and to feature an all time Top 10. It was an iteresting and challenging task and one I took quite seriously. Steve Cole supplied the questions which I answered and then I put the 10 tracks forward.

A redraft was then required as I had included a few edits and it was probably better to look at original work based on the readership and potential licensing issues, therefore I rather hurriedly submitted the final cut which was then published. You can read the published piece here: LINK

Seeing as Iwent to quite a lot of trouble thinking about and then answering the questions Steve posed, I thought I would publish the interview and subsequent notes here and open the Top 10 up to you guys. What should've been in there? Feel free to post comments and we can go through the results form there.

SC: The term 'Nu-Disco' seems to cover a host of varied and
eclectic music, but is there an underlying spirit or way that you could define
the genre?

PC: Tricky
one, I think groove led is quite a good way to think about Nu-Disco. I
would say a lot of the tracks whether they are peak-time or downtempo
share that groove led quality. Some live sounding instruments and drums
also feature in a lot of the productions too. It's a funny one to define
as I'm not sure where the term popped up from in the first place.
Probably a music journalist?!

SC: Do you think the Nu Disco scene has evolved from House
music?

PC: Most
definitely house, acid as well as the Belgian new-beat scene, soul,
funk, indie crossover bands and of course good old disco itself.

SC: Were you into the House music scene and if so, what made
you start to look towards disco for inspiration?

PC: I
have been into House, Techno and some of it's related genres for over
two decades, the dance scene suddenly began to become so minimal back in
the 2004/5 and Electro & Funky House just sounded so dated and
contrived to me. I am a fan of live music and like a lot of indie bands.
What happened was a lot of the tracks really standing out for me were
by bands, Whitey, Bloc Party, Libertines, CSS, The Gossip and there were
normally some excellent and highly playable remixes with the releases.
The Glimmers, Soulwax, Spank Rock, Phones, Filthy Dukes and Kissy Sell
Out were all doing edits and remixes of tracks that were far more
appealing to my ears. It was around this time I first started to hear
the term Nu-Disco bandied around and often placed upon the artists I was
into.

The actual disco influenced stuff came a bit later down the line
with some great stuff from the Unabombers, Crazy P, Metro Area &
Toby Tobias finding its way into my hands and onto the turntable.

The
Rizla Invisible players arena at Bestival in 2007 really exposed me to a
load more music and seeing the crowd reaction to tracks that were being
played by Greg Wilson was inspiring. Imagination, Cheryl Lynn, Kate
Bush, Missy Elliot, Chaka Khan and 1gnition all blew the roof off.
That's when I started to really dig a bit deeper into the 70's disco,
soul and funk scene.

SC: Why did you start up Disco Deviant and how important have
blogs been in developing the music?

PC: It
was a case of needing to have a platform to share and comment on music
we were into as well as promoting our nights via the blog we connected
with people locally and further afield. Ooft, Feel My Bicep, Disco
Delicious have been a constant source of inspiration and as well as some
superb tip offs they often produce some blinding edits and remixes
often free to their readers. I would say these blogs have been the
foundation on which a lot of DJ gigs, labels, releases, club nights and
remix commissions were built.

It has given the scene a shape, direction and currency if you like.
SoundCloud has been just as influential for the same reasons.

SC: Have you noticed changes in Nu Disco over the past few
years?

PC: To be
completely honest I was never keen on using the term for a few years
almost refusing to acknowledge it. It felt so temporary and also
confusing. New genres such as Indie Dance / Nu Disco seemed so seperate
from the original Funk / Soul / Disco scene which is where my attention
had turned, there were so many tracks being hurriedly tagged as Nu Disco
and a lack of quality control in the productions being released. I kind
of preferred the term Disco but I saw over time there were more and
more artists and productions that were helping define a genre more
clearly.

As far as producers go I would cite Toby Tobias as one of the
pioneers of Nu Disco, his 2008 album Space Shuffle on Rekids
crystallizing the London Nu Disco sound.

However New Yorkers,
Metro Area released their album Metro Area in 2002 and it still sounds
completely fresh today and has influences from Detroit techno, Chicago
House and big Disco string sections.Genius production and a classic album with many of it's tracks played to this day in clubs around the world.

Greg
Wilson- Credit to The Edit in 2005 showcases his pioneering editing
techniques from the late 70's and early 80's and put a more organic
disco sound firmly on the playlist of many DJ's and taste makers
worldwide.

They are 3 albums which I feel have
paved the way for myself and others obviously there are a lot more but
for the sake of the interview these cover 3 different styles which all
make up today's Nu Disco scene.

I think in the past few years the net has widened and more of the
Chicago House and Acid influences are being incorporated, as well as
some more experimental and forward thinking productions. I would also
name check Harvey, Andrew Weatherall, Hercules & Love Affair, Todd
Terje, Chamboche, Rayko, Alphabet City, Prins Thomas, and Tensnake as a
few worth checking out to hear a progression and diversity in the
scene.

SC: A lot of Nu-Disco records are slow by House music
standards, what do you think has caused that change in
tempo?

PC: Again this
is to do with Groove taking the lead and working well on the dance
floor. You don't have to beat your audience about the head with bass and
synth stabs to illicit a big reaction. There are lots of tracks that I
would class as floor fillers that check in around 100bpm. I've been
playing a re-edit of Night's on Broadway by Candi Staton most of this
year it's a 100 Bpm and gets a huge reaction everytime.

I must admit in my teens and early 20's this wasn't for me, anything
beneath 120 was a bit of a struggle. Now however there is often a
decent a cross section of young and older (mainly older) going for the
Nu Disco sound. Even house has pitched it down with a lot of Crosstown
Rebels & Hot Creations releases sampling disco and setting a tempo
of 118-120 Bpm. I think it's cool. Gives the music more depth. The mass consumption of Alcohol and Ketamine are also a factor worth considering.

SC: Do you think Nu-Disco has influenced a more eclectic sound
in dance music than that of a few years ago?

PC: Without
a doubt, as I said it was Funky House, Electro or Minimal being played
in a lot of Brighton clubs in 2004/5 and the more specialist nights had
to fight to find a venue and an audience. Dubstep was coming through and
finding a home at D&B/Breaks nights quite quickly.

Disco & NuDisco had to carve it's own scene out and a lot of us
found pubs were more prepared to have us play and with the licensing
changes it seemed our audience were happier there to. In Brighton a
few of us were trying to unite and Ali Broadcast came up with Go Bang! a
series of free events across the city over May. We saw some really
successful events over the course of that month with an open and
Eclectic policy of Groove Led Music meant we all came together and
played at DIY and bespoke parties outside of the club circuit. leant

This has been the case in many cities and there are a lot of decent
tracks played in pubs and there are a lot of 'plubs' now with decent
line ups week in, week out. This has definitely led to more diverse
tempo, genres, styles, DJs and producers sharing the DJ booth.

SC:How do you see the music created by those on the Nu-Disco
scene evolving?

PC:I
co-run The Unity Agency which has a lot of the 'Nu-Disco' artists on the
roster. They each have a different sound and style and a lot of them
are fusing house, disco and some bassier elements into their
productions. Andy Ash releases on number of labels right now and his
sound is hard to pin down, yet he sits in the nu-disco bracket. Same
goes for Wolf Music who are constantly pushing things forward.

A lot of the producers have move on from edits and are putting
original work out, Rayko & Alphabet City seem to have an attachment
to 80's Boogie, Matthew Kyle is a bit more R&B flavoured at times.

Also noticed that house from the early 90's is being sampled more and
more and DJ's are playing more and more of it. It is almost always
referred to as Deep House as if to make a distinction between the
classic and credible underground vibes they are into and the mass market
pop 'House' David Guetta and his ilk are producing.

I hear more DJ's describe their sound as Deep House & Disco than
Nu- Disco to be fair. However their productions are almost always sold
from the Nu-Disco / Disco or Indie Dance / Nu Disco genres online.

SC: Have you heard Nu Disco styles creep into pop music (if you
listen to it)?

SC: Would it be possible for you to send me a 'Top Ten' of Nu
Disco tracks? I know they're almost impossible to do, and nothing is definitive
but it would be great to get an expert voice in there.

1. 1gnition - Secret Sunday Lover (Greg Wilson Remix)

2 Feverish (The Revenge remix) - Chamboche

3 Badabing (Diskjokke remix) - Martin Brodin

4 Don't Let Go (PH edit) - Tony Orlando

5 Angel in my Pocket (Leftside Wobble remix) - Changes

6 Blind - Hercules & Love Affair

7 Tomorrows Bringing (Zoo Look dub) - Toby Tobias

8 Nights on Broadway - (Rayko edit) - Candi Staton

9 Tears (Stallions remix) - Phenomenal Handclap Band

10 Banquet (Glimmers remix) - Bloc Party

Bubbling under

We Are - Atlantic Conveyor

He Not In (Greg Wilson mix) - Chicken Lips

Macasu (MCDE Loft Party remix) - Toby Tobias

Alphabet City - I'd Like to

SC: I just wondered, if it wasn't
too onerous, if you could tweak the top ten? Is there anyway you could do one
with 'official' releases? The edits are obviously the building blocks of the
scene, but it'd be great to get a chart of original compositions as my piece is
about championing the creativity of the scene.What do you
think?

PC: Here we go - more original material than before. All killers too. 3
Scando, 3 from UK, 3 US & 1 from Aus/UK make up the top ten and it
is a pretty fair representation of my cd wallet in general.

Reading articles like this make me realise I'm getting older! Sometime around 1997 I had a letter printed in the Evening Standard (yep, I had a very dull day job) about the disco-house sound of the time (responding to an article by Laura Craik on Daft Punk) and pointing out that, actually, we had our own folk such as Dave Lee, Crispin J Glover and Ashley Beedle doing much the same thing. This was around the same time as the likes of DJ Sneak, with their disco loops, were bringing the Chicago sound to a wider audience over here. Some of the early Sneak, Derrick Carter, Cajmere stuff, and dubs on labels such as Relief and Cajual, could be dropped today and sound fresh (that said, some of it is really dated; primarily because of the basic productions). Even the vogue for re-edits began as a 90s phenomenon, back then there were the Fruit Loops 12s and similar taking disco breaks and tweaking them and then there were labels like Black Cock churning out gems. Without waffling, what I'm trying to say is that nu-disco, or groove-based stuff, isn't that new (or nu) ... here's a top ten from me...

These are off the top of my head. Sure there should probably be a Todd Terje or a Mark E track or two in a top 20. And the likes of Lindstrom, Peter Visti, Kasper Bjorke etc have made some seriously decent stuff but these are ones I've been playing (in some cases for 15 years or more - Paper Recordings were miles ahead at the time and their back catalogue needs checking, includes early Rub N Tug (Dirty Jesus!), Crazy P when they still had an 'enis', and many others that went on to be at the forefront of this nu-disco thingy.